Description

ON-LINE METHODS IN CHILDREN'S LANGUAGE PROCESSING
March 21-22, 2006
CUNY Graduate Center; 365 Fifth Avenue; New York, NY
A substantial body of work examines on-line language processing in adults, yet very little is known about how children coordinate linguistic and non-linguistic information to arrive at sentence meaning. Understanding how children process language, in real time, is necessary for building comprehensive theories about language acquisition. This workshop is the first scientific gathering specifically dedicated to a new field of research that explores such issues, experimental developmental psycholinguistics. This workshop provides a forum in which scholars from different areas of expertise (psycholinguistics, language acquisition, and cognitive neuroscience), particularly those interested in applying on-line methods to study children’s language processing, will discuss how current and developing empirical approaches can inform about language processing mechanisms in children.
The workshop focuses on on-line methods to investigate children’s language processing mechanisms, including (a) behavioral methods (reaction-time tasks) such as monitoring, probe/prime latencies, and self-paced reading, (b) free-viewing eye-tracking, (c) electrophysiological measures such as brain event-related potentials (ERPs), and (d) functional neuroimaging. A separate panel of the workshop will be dedicated to each of the four methods, introduced by an invited talk and followed by four other talks chosen from submitted abstracts.
This workshop is funded by the National Science Foundation.
INVITED SPEAKERS
Susan Bookheimer (UCLA): Functional neuroimaging
Helen Cairns (CUNY): On-line methods in children’s language processing: Looking into the future
Harald Clahsen (University of Essex): Behavioral methods
Angela Friederici (Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences): Electrophysiological methods
John Trueswell (University of Pennsylvania): Free-viewing eye-tracking
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
We are soliciting abstracts for paper or poster presentations, on new and original research in experimental developmental psycholinguistics using on-line methods to study child language processing. Topics from any aspect of child language processing are welcome, ranging from the development and operation of mechanisms for sound perception and production to the development and operation of mechanisms for higher-level discourse processing. Abstracts from junior scholars are especially encouraged.

Abstracts should not exceed 450 words. Submissions are restricted to 1 individual and 1 joint abstract per author. A system for electronic abstract submission is currently under construction, but will be made available from this page.
Deadline for abstract submissions: December 15, 2005
Notification of acceptance: February 1, 2006
Travel grants will be awarded to graduate student presenters.

Invited papers and a selection of the submitted papers from the workshop will be published in a volume tentatively titled On-Line Methods in Child Language Processing.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE EMAIL: childlang@gmail.com
Workshop organizers:
Irina A. Sekerina, College of Staten Island and Graduate Center, CUNY
Eva M. Fernández, Queens College and Graduate Center, CUNY
http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/~efernand/childlang/